‘So what exactly are you researching anyway?’
Advocacy / Agriculture / Animal Diseases / Capacity Strengthening / Climate Change / Communications / ILRI / Pro-Poor Livestock

‘So what exactly are you researching anyway?’

A ‘pitching’ challenge at ILRI helps young scientists explain what they do—and why it matters—to inquisitive friends, donors and policymakers Sometimes all it might take to prevent the spread of a contagious disease is to nail up a fence door left casually hanging open on its hinges. That’s one of the key lessons from Titus … Continue reading

In Mali, an old vaccine can be a new way to fight poverty
Africa / Agriculture / Animal Diseases / Animal Health / Article / Disease Control / Epidemiology / Goats / Mali / Pastoralism / PPR / Pro-Poor Livestock / Sheep / Vaccines

In Mali, an old vaccine can be a new way to fight poverty

Scientists working at the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) have found a way to significantly increase the vaccination coverage of goats and sheep in the Sahel against one of the most common and widely feared animal diseases—the peste des petits ruminants (PPR) or ovine rinderpest—a viral infection which is endemic to the region and kills … Continue reading

Climate change already damaging children’s health, says new Lancet report
Africa / Agriculture / Climate Change / Communications / Launch / Livestock

Climate change already damaging children’s health, says new Lancet report

Climate change is already damaging the health of the world’s children and is set to shape the well-being of an entire generation unless the world meets Paris Agreement targets to limit warming to ‘well below’ 2 degrees Celsius, according to a major new report published in The Lancet. Continue reading

Livestock in context: A plea for intellectual rigor and collegial disagreement
Advocacy / Agriculture / Climate Change / Communications / Consumption / Event Report / Farming Systems / Livelihoods / Livestock / Livestock Systems / Nutrition / Policy / Pro-Poor Livestock

Livestock in context: A plea for intellectual rigor and collegial disagreement

Lawrence Haddad, the executive director of the Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition and 2018 World Food Prize co-winner, gave two presentations at the International Tropical Agriculture Conference held 11-13 November in Brisbane, Australia. The first, titled Let them eat meat, was covered in an earlier blog post. His second presentation, titled Why animal source foods … Continue reading

The future of livestock in the developing world: myths, complexities and trade-offs
Agriculture / Directorate / Environment / Event Report / ILRI / ILRIComms / Livestock / Livestock Systems

The future of livestock in the developing world: myths, complexities and trade-offs

The future of livestock in the developing world was one of the principal themes at the third International Tropical Agriculture (TropAg) Conference held from 11-13 November 2019 in Brisbane, Australia. The conference focused on the challenge of feeding the world’s ever-growing population, which is expected to reach 9.8 billion by 2050. The greatest challenges will … Continue reading

Towards sustainable food system transformations in the Global South
Advocacy / Agriculture / Climate Change / Communications / Consumption / Environment / Event Report / GLAD / Livelihoods / Livestock / Nutrition / Policy / Poverty / Pro-Poor Livestock

Towards sustainable food system transformations in the Global South

The world is just eleven harvests away from 2030, but for hundreds of millions of people the goal of ending hunger set forth in the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) remains as loftily elusive as ever. What can be done to put the developing world on the right track? Continue reading

Enhancing food security through sustainable livestock systems
Advocacy / Agriculture / GLAD / ILRI / Livestock / Livestock Systems / Policy / Presentation / Pro-Poor Livestock

Enhancing food security through sustainable livestock systems

Iain Wright, deputy director general of the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI), gave the keynote presentation at a side event on enhancing food security through innovation in sustainable livestock systems at the Committee on World Food Security (CFS) conference held in Rome last week. Continue reading

Workshop inaugurates surveillance project on human and animal diseases in Kenya
Africa / Agriculture / Animal Diseases / Animal Health / Brucellosis / Diagnostics / Disease Control / East Africa / Event Report / Kenya / Livestock / LIVESTOCKCRP / Pastoralism / RVF / Zoonotic Diseases

Workshop inaugurates surveillance project on human and animal diseases in Kenya

Recently, a consortium of Kenyan and international institutions launched a three-year surveillance project on three of those five priority zoonotic diseases with an inaugural workshop held on 3 September 2019, in Nairobi, Kenya. Continue reading

ILRI at the Committee on World Food Security
Advocacy / Agriculture / Communications / Farming Systems / GLAD / Livelihoods / Livestock / Opinion Piece / Pro-Poor Livestock

ILRI at the Committee on World Food Security

Today, the International Livestock Research Institute’s (ILRI) Iain Wright, deputy director general for research and development–Integrated Sciences, gave a short intervention at the Committee on World Food Security (CFS) held at the Food and Agriculture Organization’s (FAO) headquarters in Rome. Continue reading